“You probably get more out of a job if you actually stick with an employer,” says Gilmore. “Once you find someone you’re really happy with, spend some time there and you’re going to get the most out of it. Otherwise, I think you’ll find that you just get put on larder everywhere you go.”

As one of the judges of the Appetite for Excellence Awards, Gilmore says he is looking to see some individuality from this year’s entrants.

“A sense of not just following the latest trends, but actually reaching deep into their own backgrounds to create something that is meaningful for them, and then have that translated into something that is special for us [judges] to experience,” he says.

The Appetite for Excellence Young Chef program has evolved into the country’s most respected awards program for young talent.

A highlight of the national finalists produce tour through NSW this year was having the opportunity to cook for the fisher community of Wallis Lake at a pop up restaurant at the Forster Tuncurry race track. The young chefs chose from that morning’s catch thanks to the Wallis Lake Fisherman’s Co-Op. Below is the recipe for the Wallis Lake Bonito the team of young chef Zack Furst; young waiter Morgan Golledge & young restaurateur Dave Parker put together for the dinner. Morgan recommends matching, ‘I would go an Italian white blend like Occhipinti Bianco. Something with texture but still great acidity and slight oxidative nuttiness. If you can get your hands on that it’s a winner otherwise Brash Higgins Zibbibo or anything premium with skin contact, depth and driving acid’.

* Wash and gut bonito
* Fillet bonito, then remove ribs and then slice down the spine separating the top fillet and belly.
* Finally carve out the pin bones wipe dry and sit in a stainless steel deep tray.

For the Finishing Salad

* With 50g shallots slice super fine and place in steel bowl.* Then julienne the cucumber* Fold through shallots and dress with a small amount of olive oil and salt

For the warm pickle

* Slice 50g of the shallots and the 2 garlic cloves thinly,* Place in a medium size pot and cover with sweet Chardonnay vinegar and 100mls of water.* Bring to a slow simmer, add tarragon, olive oil and allow to steep for 45 minutes.* Season with salt and a small amount of sugar.

To finish

* Bring the warm pickle to a simmer then pour over bonito.* Allow the bonito to steep for 20 minutes.* Remove fillets onto paper towel.* Finally place fillets neatly in the centre of desired dish* Then cover fish in the fresh finishing salad* Add some flaked salt and serve with lemon slices.

Wallis Lake Fisherman’s Co-operative by Andy Day & Cam Cansdell

Established in 1947 to become the voice of the local fisherman in the area of Forster Tuncurry and the central receiving depot to handle the daily catch & distribution, the Co-op members today are made up of the children; grandchildren and great grandchildren of the original fisherman.

The cooperative itself stands not to make a profit (and hopefully not a loss!) but to represent the collective will of its members and improve the profitability and welfare of the 50 active and 40 non-active shareholders.

Several years ago the Co-op found itself on its knees in a state of financial disrepair, facing bankruptcy, and fighting to keep shareholders.

70% of the Co-ops activities on the water take place on Wallis Lake itself and its surrounding estuaries and this is where we find ourselves today, observing and absorbing the passion of the Co-op’s Operations Manager Suzie McEnallay, member Danny Elliott and the Co-op Chairman Greg Colby.

Blessed with blue skies and crystal-clear water for the day it’s easy to be lulled into the belief that life’s a breeze here in paradise.

However, like many primary production industries the fishing community faces pressures. Several years ago the Co-op found itself on its knees in a state of financial disrepair, facing bankruptcy, and fighting to keep shareholders.

Droughts affect the Co-op just as badly as agricultural industries inland and on the coast. A lack of rain means a lack of nutrients entering the estuaries, in turn providing less food for the aquatic food chain and reducing fish stocks.

Commercial pressures and compliance with regulations are constantly evolving and can only be properly managed by a collective; “how do we market our 3 ‘U’s (undervalued, under fished, underused species)?”,”how do we best make people aware this is Australian fish, and not imported?” and “how do we do business with Woolworths and not get pressured?”

The most impressive lesson from today was learning not WHAT the challenges were but rather HOW and WHY the community took them head on.

Facing bankruptcy less than a decade ago the Co-op’s board of directors made the bold decision to effectively ‘freeze’ shares, meaning no member could sell their share(s) until 2019. This was a clever solution to secure what capital the co-op had at the time and create an ongoing commitment from their members (a large proportion of whom are now the non-active shareholders having since retired) that the co-op must endure and succeed for the individual shareholders to themselves survive. Beyond that the shareholders effectively bought more shares to build up the Co-ops capital and help it pay off debts. Only a tight community has the courage to band together at such times, and only an extraordinary one has the strength to survive it.

They face the distinct possibility of running out of fisherman over the next 30 years with an average active shareholder age of 54. This is further compounded by a stemming of generational fishing families; the next generation are either told not to or don’t want to become professional fishermen.

young fisher, 18 year old Jack Freeman

Suzie McEnallay

With almost no young, skilled fishermen coming through the ranks in the next decade it was vitally important for the Co-op to assist 18 year-old Jack in securing a grant from the Rural Assistance Authority to begin the process of acquiring fishing license endorsements so that they could build up and sustain their shareholder base. The process to obtain a commercial fishing license in NSW is quite a lengthy & intricate process. Even the governments’ own guide to commercial fisheries says that ‘due to the complex nature of the NSW commercial fishing arrangements it is impossible to produce a simple guide that is guaranteed to fully explain all aspects. The law and policies are also subject to change, so anyone who wishes to fully understand all elements of the current arrangements must not rely solely on this guide’.

And by working with the FRDC (Fisheries Research and Development Corporation) the Co-op can more effectively influence, through education and research, the market factors that create the “3 U’s” and can generate a better revenue stream by successfully marketing species like Luderick and Mullet that are in such strong supply in Wallis Lake.

The Wallis Lake Fishermans Co-operative is blessed with a wealth of pristine resources and hard-working, passionate individuals that form a sum greater than all the parts. Their methods and resourcefulness is the key to their success and is something to be admired and imitated by any business willing to create a more collaborative and egalitarian environment for business.

These days it’s not enough for young chefs to just be designing delectable dishes on a daily basis they’re putting their talents into other avenues specifically the tools of their trades… We’ve seen chefs input into the designing of kitchens in new venues, choosing the crockery and tableware to the music that’s played during service. Some chefs are taking it even one step further in their quest for total creative control and making their own plates and knives. Mal Meiers is one such chef and is making his own plates for his food & wine pop-ups and charity dinners. The results are fairly spectacular… But we’ll let you be the judge!

What inspired you to start making your own plates?

Initially I started making plates because I wanted to be able to create the plate I put a dish I created on.

How did you get involved with the pottery communities in Melbourne and Sydney?

I started by searching for wheel throwing courses in my local area, which lead me to do a six week course at Northcote pottery. I discovered the space was set up perfectly to practice after the initial course.

After relocating to Sydney I again searched and came across Claypool, an amazing group of experienced ceramicists in Botany. A handful of potters decided to create a space that would act as a community of like-minded creative people as much as a space due to the lack of one in Sydney.

A lot of chefs are turning their hands to creating & producing ‘tools of their trade’ why do you think this is? What are the benefits?

I think that as a chef because it allows you the opportunity to have multiple passions due to the multitude of artisan paths within a career. For some chefs it may be gardening, bread, making knives or making plates.

I think the benefits are you can have more creative freedom in some aspects, for me with my plates, I can create something for myself no one else will have. Or it allows me create something for a specific purpose like my Food + Wine pop-ups and Beyondblue charity dinners.

Where are you using the plates?

Towards the end of 2016 I made plates to use at Food for Thought, the two charity dinners I organised that took place in November 2016 to raise funds for beyondblue, (Mal raised over $19,000 for beyondblue in 2016). I also use the plates for my business the Food + Wine pop up which takes up 3-4 week residences in various locations.

Do you have a signature style?

Style? I would say more of a quirk. Yes I like making organic shaped plates so I shape my plates around different fruits and vegetables. You can take the chef out of the kitchen but not the kitchen out of the chef!

Any monumental disasters from when you started out?

Biggest disaster would probably be when I had a glaze that shrunk at a different rate to the clay I was using for a particular effect and I had to make about 120 avocado ramekins for my friends at Persillade in Melbourne to give them the 20 they wanted.

Living back in Sydney, you’ve been visiting Claypool to make your plates? What do they do and how did you get involved?

It’s just an amazing environment they are very helpful, supportive. As a business it’s more of a community. Everything is there and you meet a wide variety of potters all with different styles and everyone is open to sharing.

Any plans to take bespoke orders or are you more interested in producing for yourself?

To be honest I’m still figuring it out, I’ve only been doing a couple of years. It’s also a labour of love and I’m currently committing most of my time to Bennelong and Food for Thought besides I am so busy at the moment, I wouldn’t be have the time to fulfill orders anyway.

As a 20-something year old young chef Josh Niland entered into our Electrolux Australian Young Chef in 2013, cooking his way to Highly Commended.

At the time Josh was working as head chef at Fish Face Sydney. Fast forward 3 years, after a stint as head chef at the now closed Cafe Nice in Sydney; Josh along with his wife Julie have opened their own restaurant, Saint Peter in Paddington.

Named for the patron saint of fisherman, Saint Peter features Australian sustainably sourced seafood. On a rare day off from the restaurant Josh kindly took the time to catch up with us and spills the beans on what it was like opening his own place; the process of dry-ageing fish and his particular fascination with ‘fish & bits’.

What was opening your first restaurant like?

Nothing like opening anyone else’s that’s for sure! It’s been really exhausting but we are extremely proud of what we have been able to produce so far. Paddington locals along with friends & family have all been very supportive and it’s wonderful to be seeing familiar faces returning each week. Our staff are amazing and have made the whole process less stressful then I thought it was going to be.

What do you think has been the biggest hurdle?

Biggest hurdle has been discovering the ‘hidden joys’ of a heritage Paddington terrace, the continuing small issues that arise in the beginning were tricky and required a lot of patience.

Do you have 3 pieces of advice for someone who is thinking of opening their own venue?

Don’t spend too much money on the fit out or be smart about the choices you make and consider every purchase.

Stay off Gumtree for important equipment purchases.

Make time to go and say thank you and hello to your customers and the same to your staff/ look after staff during those first gnarly weeks.

Your focus is primarily on fish specifically the overlooked and under-utilised parts like offal. Have you always been interested in using ‘fish bits’ and why?

Since I was about 19 or 20 I’ve been fascinated that the yield from a fish is so poor and the loss is so high. Fish is so expensive and the shelf life is so slim so if that isn’t motivation for a chef to think out of the box then I’m not sure what is! Having worked in restaurants that sell a lot of fish, I began to keep all the bits.

The obvious method to start with was burying the fish roe from all of the different fish in salt, allowing them to harden then using them as a seasoning. Since then it has been a constant ambition to come up with delicious & different ways of cooking or serving these bits. From pan fried fish livers & parsley on toast, smoked fish heart, salt & vinegar fish scales, poached & rolled head, puffed swim bladders to aged and marinated milt served back with the fish that it came from.

I’m also aware that as Australians we aren’t overly keen on eating ‘fish guts’ but I hope to at least get them to try it!

Can you tell us about the process behind dry ageing fish and how you came about this?

In Japan and even locally in good sushi bars, there are chefs ageing mackerel & tuna and many other fish to heighten the flavour characteristic & texture of the fish.

We start by buying a perfect fish that is wonderful and firm, no imperfections and dry. We process the fish being sure it is thoroughly clean and again kept dry. We then place a butcher’s hook at the tail end and hang in our fish cabinet. Every day we wipe the fish with paper towel to remove any possible surface moisture. Come day 8/9 we remove the fish from the cabinet and place on the second rail we have in the cool room that is in the room with the fan blowing, we allow the fish to hang for another full day and allow the exterior to really dry out. Then it’s just a matter of application, raw/cooked .

We are fortunate to have had a fish cabinet custom made for us that allows us to hold fish between 0 & 1 degrees Celsius. This allows us to hold most fish (depending on the type) for up to 15/16 days. It takes quite a bit of trial and error to find the ‘sweet spot’ of different species but slowly we are getting very good results. In particular the albacore we have on our menu is hung & aged whole for 7 days in our static cabinet and then brought out to our main cool room area to hang for a further 2 days with the assistance of the cool room fan to dry further. By doing this we have found the fish tastes more savoury and the texture is far firmer than it was as a ‘fresh fish’.

My main reason for wanting to do this is mainly to extend what is usually a very small window of time to use fish and try to really hone in on what a particular fish species really tastes like so that we can pair it better with garnishes and wine.

Do you get the fish in whole and clean it? At Saint Peter we buy everything in guts in, scales on & head on. We then dry process the fish, we go to great lengths to be sure that our fish is well maintained and looked after.

What does dry ageing do to the flavour of the fish?

We’ve noticed that in oily fish like Spanish mackerel, albacore & wild kingfish that the unique flavour qualities of the fish begin to become more defined after approx 4-5 days. After 9-10 days the flavour is really promoted and it is like cooking and eating a totally different product.

For example the wild kingfish when fresh tastes wonderful and clean and has a mild acidity to it that tastes like fresh lemon juice. The idea then was to push it to a point (6 days) where the fish had a distinct acidity to it that it made your mouth water, the skin was dry – making it extremely crisp when cooked & with a firmer texture.

Can you serve it raw?

Yes definitely we have served 9 day aged raw wild kingfish with great feedback, the only thing to be conscious of is the red muscle oxidising giving the appearance a less then perfect look. This is maintained by constant love & care.

How do you train your FOH staff on the processes of cooking & ageing your dishes?

We ensure that we all taste the fish that we serve each day and discuss the length of time potentially that it may have been aged and why we wanted to do that then why we decided to pair it with a certain vegetable or sauce.

As the menu is changed every service our FOH staff have a very important roll to play at Saint Peter. Ensuring that the customers are fully briefed on what they are getting if they have any additional offal coming with their dish or if it is aged and then what best wine to pair it with.

What are three pieces of advice you can give about seafood that people may not know?

Never wash fish under water – use plenty of paper towel when cleaning up a whole fish to be sure it’s thoroughly cleaned before storing or cooking.

Never wrap fish or any seafood in cling wrap as this will cause the protein to sweat and it will deteriorate very quickly – invest in go between!

Thanks to Josh, Julie and their team for taking time out of their busy schedule and for allowing Appetite to film behind the scenes… Keep an eye out on our website for more of Josh’s how to dry age fish in the coming weeks…

A few weeks ago two of our alumni young chefs, Aaron Ward & Troy Crisante along with our project director Phee Gardner were invited to spend a week with the Hayden Reynolds Tiwi College Project. The Tiwi College Project seeks to improve the well being of the Tiwi Island youth by providing educational opportunities at Tiwi College, ‘We seek to create opportunities, which provide pathways for positive social change’. This is achieved by harnessing the profile and influence of positive role models across the fields of sport, entertainment and by a cross section of corporate executives who are keen to share experiences and opportunities that will enhance social change.

Aaron and Troy shared their cooking skills & food knowledge with the college students and home carers, attended classes with the students, assisting them with their literacy skills and cooked up a BBQ of marinated buffalo skewers and pepper crust steaks (you can get their recipes here).. We put together a clip of their time at the Tiwi Islands Project – thanks to all of the students and the Tiwi Islands Community along with the Hayden Reynolds Tiwi College Project for welcoming and hosting us!

Heading back on our tiny plane we asked Aaron about his experiences at the Tiwi College Project and some background into the project.

What is the Tiwi College Project and what do you think they’re trying to achieve?

The college is trying to improve the lifestyles of the Tiwi people by providing the Life Skills program, where the kids are taught to cook, clean and respect the other people around them. These skills can then be taken back into the communities to help lifestyles of those back home.

The college is trying to create job opportunities for the kids once they graduate from the college. Some of the kids are going into apprenticeships at the college in the garden program and going to the fishing lodges to work as guides on the fishing charters.

Why did you want to go to the Tiwi College Project?

Going to the Tiwi Islands and visiting the Tiwi College Project was such a great opportunity for me. I wanted to see what the project was about, how the college operated, and how the kids lived their day-to-day lives. Also being able to give back to the community by sharing my cooking skills and recipes was an experience I couldn’t say no to.

How as a chef do you think you can help implement change to help young kids in the Tiwi community?

As a chef I think it is important to teach the kids in the Tiwi community about different foods and give them a better knowledge base of foods they can cook. After talking to the kids, food is a big part of their culture as it brings the families and communities together. I hope that by teaching them some new techniques and sharing some new recipes it can help them to make healthier choices along the way.

What did you learn about the Tiwi community at the college?

I learnt how much knowledge the Tiwi people have of the land they live on. They know how and when the best time to hunt is; where to find the best catch and the best ways to track and capture the animal. And the ways they fish to catch turtle, stingray and dugong in the most successful way. They were also able to explain which trees can be used for medicine if sick and which trees can help to cook their food.

What was the highlight of the trip?

The highlight of the trip for me would have to be working with the kids in class and cooking for them.

We had the opportunity to sit in on a reading class and help the kids practice their reading skills. To see the joy on their faces when they accomplished reading a book with no help was amazing.

On the final morning at Tiwi College Project we cooked breakfast at one of the homes. It was a privilege to cook for the 13 girls and their house carers. We received plenty of thank you letters from the girls so I’m pretty sure they enjoyed it

What have you learnt from this experience?

Before going to the Tiwi Islands I didn’t really know much about the project. Having experienced first-hand what the project is trying to achieve it is a great initiative to help the kids of the island improve the way they live and help them with their life skills in the future.

What have you taken away from the visit?

This was a great experience for me and one I will not forget. Working with the children, the families and the dedicated staff that make it all happen is truly inspirational. Giving something back by cooking food for the homes and helping the kids with their reading and literature was a great experience.

During their time on the island, young chefs Aaron Ward & Troy Crisante cooked some of their secret recipes for the Tiwi College Project, and shared these recipes along with some of their chef’s secrets with the college. The marinades are perfect for a BBQ at home.

What does the word hospitality mean to you and how has it changed since you started?

Hospitality is about maintaining standards and providing a place where customers enjoy themselves surrounded by pleasant experiences – food, wine and service, atmosphere, the whole experience.

Hospitality is always evolving and that keeps it interesting. Keeping up the pace, keeping up to date with what’s going on demands a lot of people in the industry. But so does maintaining standards. You might have bistro French cuisine that has pretty much stayed the same for decades but it takes a lot of effort to keep the standard of that food at a high level.

Did you have a mentor?

Not really. I started cooking in the dark ages in Australia, when nothing had changed in a long time. It’s hard to explain now but back then there was little focus on produce and everyone was cooking the same menu items. Then, at the end of my apprenticeship, the nouvelle cuisine era arrived, ushering in a whole new world of cuisine which has remained exciting ever since. This movement also allowed other cuisines like Italian and Asian to bloom.

In the early days, I worked with a few good chefs that drilled into you that you needed to work fast, you needed to work hard and you had to absorb all the basics of cooking. But once you’d done that, for that new era you had to be searching out new ideas yourself.

There was a sort of good side to not having a mentor. No-one told you how to make all the basics such as puff pastry. While it takes much longer to learn by yourself, once you learn from scratch, it’s in there forever.

What was the goal when you opened and is it different now?

When I started out, I had no real idea. But I did know that I wanted to have a restaurant one day and express what I liked to cook and what was up to date, not just another plate of Oysters Kilpatrick. It was a lot easier back then to start out without making a huge capital investment like today. It was exciting, all-consuming and draining at the same time.

Do you have a piece of advice for current chefs starting out? Did you have a piece of advice that you’ve carried through?

I probably should have looked more at the business. Because you’re a chef, you’re focussing on the food and restaurant rather than the business. And in the end, it all comes down to business. Today, what I’d say to young chefs and restaurateurs starting out is “Remember, at the end of the day, it’s a business.”

It’s also really important that you have a work/life balance. The hospitality industry has long, anti-social hours and if you enjoy that aspect of it, that’s fine. But it does get draining so people need to find a life balance. Don’t overdo it because people get consumed by it. People think it’s a badge of honour to say you’ve worked 80 or 90 hours a week but you have to have a life as well. It’s important for the whole industry because you don’t want a lot of good people burning out and leaving the industry.

Over 3 million Australian’s suffer from the effects of anxiety or depression and is extremely prevalent across all sectors of the hospitality industry. Long, anti-social hours, easy access to drugs and alcohol; highly pressurised work environments coupled with the stigma attached to talking about your mental health concerns are all contributing factors to this worrying statistic.

‘Mental health is a big, unspoken problem in the hospitality industry. The mentality of kitchens is that if you are not dying then you are not sick, or if you have not broken a leg then you can come to work. Kitchens don’t recognise anyone with mental health issues and those with mental health issues are perceived to be weak and soft because they are not able to “push on”. It’s something that the industry needs to recognise and address collectively,’ Thi Le chef/owner of Anchovy restaurant in Richmond, Melbourne.

A recent article, We Need to Talk About Mental Health in the Kitchen by Tim McKirdy on Vice Magazine’s Munchies website indicates that it’s chefs who are the most affected in the industry, after the death of ‘the best chef in the world’, Benoit Violier, back in February 2016 again highlighted the issue. This week prominent American chef Daniel Patterson wrote an open letter Speaking Out, to MAD, about his struggle over with depression over the years and his recent diagnosis. He concludes his letter by saying ‘And what’s really going to happen if I say publicly that I had some screwy brain chemistry and I took care of it? Will people stop coming to my restaurants?’ Socially, speaking about mental health and your own mental health has never been easy, especially in an environment where you are expected to ‘handle’ the tough working conditions, because this is what you signed up for when choosing the hospo life.

In Australia only 35% of people affected seek help from beyondblue, an Australian organisation that was established in 2000, focusing on raising awareness of depression and reducing the associated stigma. Food for Thought founder and young chef Mal Meiers says ‘For me, I know how important it is that we break down the stigma surrounding mental health, many people suffer often in silence or isolation, with the help of some great young chefs Food for Thought is about raising awareness, coming together and taking on this stigma to show there is help’.

Breaking down barriers and giving people in the industry a place to share their thoughts and feelings has come in the form of ‘Chefs with Issues‘ an online forum launched in 2015 by Kat Kinsman editor at large of Tasting Table in America. While based out of the States, the website gives not just to chefs but to all of those involved in the service industry the opportunity to write about their own feelings; read about other people’s experiences while offering resources and support to those who need it.

It was Mal’s own struggle with anxiety and depression and the help he received from beyondblue, that enabled him to start a conversation about his experiences which has been the driving force behind Food for Thought ‘my hope is to help broaden the awareness of the support that is available to not only my peers but to the wider community for all those who suffer in silence’.

Reaching out to his close friends (& like minded chefs) they came together to develop Food for Thought, a collaborative dinner aimed at raising awareness and funds for and in support of beyondblue. The inaugural dinner with the support of Beer DeLuxe was held at Fed Square in 2014.

Jacob Furst executive chef of Beer DeLuxe said of his involvement & support of Food for Thought, ‘I’ve witnessed mental health first hand in the work place and at home. I believe the work beyondblue do to support people with depression is outstanding, but they excel in equipping everyone with the knowledge and skills to protect their own mental health. Like with any illness, prevention is better than a cure. I can’t think of a better way than to show support than using our skills to create this experience for the very generous guests who attend’.

In 2016, Mal and his fellow collaborators hope to expand awareness from the initial Melbourne audience by introducing the event into Sydney with a second dinner, one in each city. Headed up by Mal, the chefs will be collaborating on a diverse tasting menu where they will each create a dish to showcase their individual character & creative style whilst working together as a collective. Each dinner will be a 7 course tasting menu with matched beverages by sommelier Kate Christensen, ‘Being involved with such a valuable event like Food for Thought enables you to connect to a cause bigger than yourself. It provides an opportunity to give back; not only time and skills but to use our collective passion for our industry to partake in something that has the potential to invoke real change in the lives of those who suffers most’.

beyondblue Food for Thought is supported by some of Australia’s leading producers including Flinders Island Lamb, Cape Grim Beef, Ora King Salmon along with Beer Deluxe.

Tickets are available from Lime & Tonic – Sydney & Melbourne and are $150 for a 7 course degustation & matched beverages. All proceeds will be donated directly to beyondblue.

Established in October 2000, beyondblue initially focused on raising awareness of depression and reducing the associated stigma. As our knowledge and impact on people’s lives broadened, through research and community engagement, we added the key issue of anxiety conditions in 2011 and, more recently, suicide prevention to our core purpose.

Despite depression being the leading cause of disability worldwide and predicted to be the leading cause of burden of disease by 2030, ahead of heart disease, few countries had attempted a national response to depression. Other national programs that tried to get the wider community to change their attitudes to mental health were met with limited success.

Head to beyondblue.org.au to find out more about the organisation and for ways you can help/support.